Community Design: Housing

Boston is home to businesses, a world leading pharmaceutical industry, numerous higher education institutions as well as a large population of people. Urban sprawl has developed surrounding suburbs that are home to daytime Bostonians. Many professionals retreat to the comfort of their suburban houses for the night. The commuters find peace in their community, which can be difficult to find in a city. The goal of the Mission Hill development is to create a peaceful community, welcoming to its residents. By creating a space within the city and branching off more personal spaces, community, neighborhood, and intimacy is established. A gradual increase in privacy from city block to home generates a gradient in human intimacy. As Norberg-Schulz states, “the life which takes place in the house primarily is a shared life. Withdrawal does not mean isolation, but rather a different kind of meeting, that is, the intimate meeting of a private dwelling”. Residents of the Mission Hill development experience a shared life.

The community experiences a semi-private dwelling in the courtyard, with increased privacy in the atrium, and maximum seclusion in the comfort of their apartments. The gradual change in privacy creates the opportunity for various human connections and a spectrum of social atmosphere; for example, a neighbor, by definition, could be the person living in the next room, across the atrium, or even in a neighboring building.